Contemporary New Adult
Title: The Burning of Isobel Key
Author - Jen McConnel
Date to be Published: October 1, 2012
Synopsis:
When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess. She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself. It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.
At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide. When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen. And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.
Lou has begun exploring the Neo Pagan faith, a dramatic shift from her wealthy Catholic upbringing. Despite her fears of being too “hocus pocusy”, Lou turns to her new faith as she struggles to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Isobel Key. But faith or not, Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.
Author Bio
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
Contemporary New Adult
When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess. She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself. It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.
At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide. When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen. And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.
Lou has begun exploring the Neo Pagan faith, a dramatic shift from her wealthy Catholic upbringing. Despite her fears of being too “hocus pocusy”, Lou turns to her new faith as she struggles to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of Isobel Key. But faith or not, Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.
Author Bio
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
Author Bio
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
CHAPTER ONE
“I quit!” Lou’s words echoed around the checkout line, and customers craned their necks to see what was happening. Red in the face, Lou looked down at her register in embarrassment. Her manager patted her shoulder.
“Let’s go back in the office to talk about
this.” He turned, expecting her to follow.
“No!” Louder than she’d intended, Lou stood
her ground. “You heard me. I’ve had enough of this store.” As she spoke,
she tossed her nametag on the counter. An
errant brown curl flipped over her eye, and she pushed it away. Under the shocked gaze of her manager and the
curious stares of a snake-like line of holiday shoppers, Lou fled.
Once she was outside in the bitter December
wind, she headed for the nearest T stop, acting out of habit more than conscious
thought. She’d walked this easy route between
the bookstore and the T for the past four years, and her body took over while her
mind churned.
She had a college degree, for Pete’s sake! Cum laude from Duke University had landed
her a job selling books and stationary to the snobby suburbanites outside of Boston. Sighing, she paid her fare and took her seat on
the train bound for the city center.
Suddenly, the weight of what she had done hit
her, and she buried her face in her hands.
What was she thinking, quitting her job like that? Lou replayed the afternoon in her mind. Nothing had happened today that hadn’t happened
a thousand other times. Maybe it was the
proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back: four years of answering bizarre questions
and customers who were always right had finally taken its toll on her psyche.
But now what would she do? Lou wasn’t a person who acted on impulse: she
was cautious and considered her options.
And now she was unemployed the week before Christmas. Lou slumped in her seat. Unless she figured something out, and fast, she
might have to move back in with her family.
It wasn’t that Lou had anything against her family, not really: her parents
had adopted her shortly after her birth, and they’d never made her feel like anything
but their cherished only child. But Lou was
almost 27, and it had never been part of her plan to live at home after college. Part of her plan: that was funny, she thought.
It sounded like she’d ever had a plan.
Sure, she always knew that she’d attend college
after high school. With parents who had both
made careers in the medical field, Lou had never doubted that she’d follow their
lead and soak up as much education as she could. Money wasn’t an issue, so when she turned 18 and
Duke University accepted her, she thought it would be ideal. She moved to North Carolina and spent four years
studying the liberal arts, unable to decide on a tangible career path. Nothing seemed to fit, and even though she earned
her degree, she didn’t really know what she was going to do after college. It was lucky that her best friend needed a roommate
in Boston, Lou mused, or she might have ended up back with her parents four years
ago.
Shaking her head, Lou glanced up as the train
rolled to a stop. Standing unsteadily, she
tried to ignore the raging pity party in her mind. As the doors whooshed open, the
cold winter air assaulted her again. For
the first time she realized that she’d left her coat behind in the employee lounge. Hesitating for a moment, Lou considered taking
the train back and getting her things.
“There’s no going back,” she whispered. Even the excuse of her coat might be enough to
put her back in her manager’s office, begging for her job back. Shivering, Lou hurried up the stairs and out of
the tunnel. The old black light posts were
swathed in candy cane stripes, and every window she passed displayed some holiday
decorations. What a time to be unemployed,
Lou thought sourly as she buzzed the doorman at her apartment.
Unlocking the door on the seventeenth floor,
Lou called out nervously, “Hello? Tammy?” Her roommate didn’t answer, and Lou felt relieved. She wasn’t ready to face anyone yet, not until
she’d figured out her next step. Checking
the kitschy clock on the wall of the hallway, Lou realized it was only a quarter
after four. Tammy wouldn’t be home ‘til seven
or later. Relaxing, Lou stacked her boots
neatly in the hall closet and headed to the kitchen.
The sleek, modern kitchen was a mess: remnants
from Tammy’s last party were still strewn across the stainless countertops. Sighing, Lou plugged in the electric kettle and
searched for a mug. While she waited for
the kettle to whistle, she started to tidy up.
She loaded the dishwasher carelessly and overfilled the soap container, but
when she was done the room looked much more presentable. Satisfied, Lou added a packet of hot chocolate
to the mug. After a moment’s hesitation,
she stirred a hearty dollop of vanilla vodka into the chipped Disney World souvenir.
Leaning against the counter, Lou studied the
apartment. The kitchen was open to the rest
of the space, and from her vantage point, Lou could see the living room and the
stairs that led to her lofted bedroom. She
sighed, wondering how much longer she’d get to enjoy this apartment with her best
friend. Her parents had helped her out with
bills from time to time, but Lou felt certain that all assistance of this kind would
stop if they found out she was no longer employed.
“What’s the matter with me?” She wondered out
loud, tears in her eyes. Taking her mug,
she crossed to the living room and flopped down on the fluffy red sofa. She began flipping aimlessly through the stack
of magazines on the coffee table.
Suddenly, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Glancing at the cracked screen, Lou saw that it
was Tammy calling. Sighing, she flipped the
phone open.
“Hello?”
Tammy’s voice was crackly but excited. “Lou? Guess
what? You’ll never guess what happened!”
Lou sighed, annoyed. “What?”
“They gave me an account!” Tammy squealed in delight. “Did you hear?”
“Tammy, that’s amazing!”
“And the best part is, guess where the account
is based? Guess!”
Not wanting to play games, Lou asked, “Would
you just tell me?”
“Scotland!
Isn’t that awesome?”
Stunned speechless, Lou just stared at the
phone.
“Lou! Louisa! Are you still there?”
She shook herself. “Yes, I’m here. Tammy, that’s great!”
“I know! They want me to go over there next
week to check things out and meet everybody.”
“But isn’t next week Christmas? What about your family?”
Tammy laughed. “They won’t care. But Lou, wouldn’t it be perfect to spend Christmas
in Scotland?”
Lou agreed that it would be. She ignored the small bubble of jealousy starting
to form in her heart.
“Tammy, I’m really excited for you.”
“For us, you mean.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tammy’s voice broke into a garbled stream of
words.
“Tammy!” Lou shouted. “I can’t hear you.”
“In the T…we’ll talk… home…”
The cell phone made a crunching sound and the
call dropped. Lou looked at her phone and
leaned back into the couch cushions. Wasn’t
it just like fate to give Tammy something so wonderful, she mused, when she was
so miserable? Sniffing, Lou drained her cup
of spiked cocoa and headed upstairs to lie down.
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a great novel!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing :)
Bella
Thanks, Bella! Happy reading :)
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